Demonic Neutralizer

Corrupt city and rumors

One year later, the streets of Dim City were alive with whispers of a new urban legend. On this particular night, two criminals huddled in a dark alley, their nerves on edge.

"Come on, we don't have all day here! Did you get them?" the first criminal hissed, his eyes darting nervously around the shadows.

His partner nodded, a smirk playing on his lips. "I got them."

"Good, we need to move!" The first man's voice was tight with urgency.

The second criminal chuckled, his confidence a stark contrast to his partner's anxiety.

"What's your problem? This isn't anything we haven't done before. We'll be long gone before the cops even find the body."

"I'm not worried about the cops..." the first man muttered, his eyes scanning the darkness.

His partner burst into laughter. "Hahahahah!! Are you serious? I see, so you're worried about the rumors. Got you all spooked. Got you scared in your little boots."

"Stop it, it's not a joke," the first criminal snapped.

"No, it is!" his partner retorted. "We just splattered some guy's brains everywhere, and here you are worried about spooky vampire stories."

"It can't be human," the first man insisted. "I heard from Bill that it took out seven guys last week."

"Oooooh, yeah, if Bill says so, it must be true," the second criminal mocked.

"Seriously, shut it.... So you think there's nothing out there?"

The second criminal stepped in front of his partner, his voice rising as he launched into a rant. "I think that the cops want you to think that something is out there. Dim City is built on ghost stories. My family has lived here for eight generations, EIGHT!! And believe me, there's always something - witches, monsters, you name it - and none of them were real. Especially not some demon man out there to fight crime. This! This is real, our jobs and getting enough to get by are all we have."

A sudden noise made him turn around, only to find his partner had vanished. "Pol, where'd you go...?"

Panic rising, he fired a shot into the darkness. The gunshot echoed through the alley, followed by his frantic shout, "Get the hell away from me!!"

Another shot rang out as he caught sight of glowing red eyes in the shadows. Terror gripped him, and he turned to run.

"You hear me, you freak! You're not getting me!" he yelled over his shoulder.

A figure with glowing red eyes slowly emerged from the darkness, walking towards the fleeing criminal with an eerie calm.

"This isn't real! This can't be real!" the man cried out, his bravado crumbling.

The figure spoke, its voice a chilling mix of youth and otherworldly power. "Eight generations, and all of them were too scared to warn you about me."

In desperation, the criminal fired at the approaching figure, but the bullets seemed to have no effect. With inhuman speed, the being closed the distance between them, grabbing the man by the neck.

"What! I'll talk! Please! I'll talk! Mother of God, please, I swear!" the criminal babbled, terror etched on his face.

Without a word, the figure - known to the underworld as the Demonic Neutralizer - knocked the criminal unconscious. As sirens wailed in the distance, the mysterious vigilante vanished into the night, leaving the criminal for the approaching police.

In the year since that fateful night, Kevin had embraced his new identity, becoming the protector of Dim City. The once-frightened boy had transformed into a force of justice, using his supernatural abilities to strike fear into the hearts of criminals and monsters alike and hope into the souls of the innocent.